Carrier for gas containers



Feb. 14, 1950 w. c. GATEWOOD 2,497,597

CARRIER FOR GAS CONTAINERS Filea Aug. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l v r 1% gl l J RAF/6 /7 IN V EN TOR. [Yd/7777 6'. 6777277000 Feb. 14, 1950 w. c.GATEWOOD CARRIER FOR GAS CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fileu Aug. 13, 1947JNVENTOR.

W fi/ (Z qnrewova Patented F eb. 14, 1950 UNITED STAT ES PATENT OFFICECARRTER FOR GAS CONTAINERS Worth '0. Gatewood, Alexandria, 'Va.

Application August 13, 1947, Serial No. 768,313

4 Claims. 1 [This invention relates to an attachment for a trailercoachand more particularly to a device for holding tanks, or equivalentcontainers, which are filled with compressed gas used as fuel for a gasstove in the trailercoach.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterconsisting of a frame adapted to be mounted upon chassis bars of atrailercoach in advance of the front end of the trailercoach body insuch position that containers holding gas under pressure may be easilyfitted into the frame and firmly secured therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame which is of suchconstruction that after tanks of compressed gas have been deposited inthe frame a portion of the frame carrying jaws may be moved towards thetanks and the jaws "brought into tight gripping-engagement with thetanks and the tanks thus firmly secured but permitted to be released andeasily removed when replacement of empty tanks with filled ones isnecessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame wherein a clampingbar or strip carrying jaws for gripping two tanks of gas is moved to aclamping position by a singleelement which consists of a threaded rod orbolt passed through the clamping bar and carrying a nut for applyingpressure to the bar, 'the rod or bolt being located midway the length ofthe clamping bar so that as the nut is tightened both tanks will begripped.

.Another object of the invention is to provide aframe of this characterwhich is of simple construction, easy to apply to or remove from atrailer, and capabl of being manufactured at lowcost.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showinga frame of the improved constructionmounted upon chassis bars of a trailercoach in advance of the front endof the trailer body,

Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a view looking at the front end of the trailercoach with theframe mounted upon chassis bars of the trailercoach.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the improved tank-holding frame.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view upon an enlarged scaletakenalongthe line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view showing aframe of modified formation mountedupon chassis bars of a trailercoach.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken along the line'|-1 of Figure 6.

Fig. 8 is aperspective'view of "another modified form of frame.

This improved carrier for containers holding side and end walls.

lower ends of the posts 6.

2 compressed gas has a frame which is indicated in general bythe-numeral I and is mounted upon portions of the chassis bars 2 of atrailercoac'h which project forwardly from the body 3 of thetrailercoach. The forwardly projecting portions of the chassis bars 2converge forwardly and at their front ends carry the usual mechanism(not shown) for hitching the trailercoach back of an automobile or othertowing vehicle. It is understood that the trailercoach is ofconventional construction and that no changes in its construction arenecessary in order that the improved carrier may be applied thereto.

In its preferred embodiment the frame I is of the construction shown inthe drawings and has a side and ends formed of tubular bars or pipes 4and 5 which are bent in spaced relation to their ends to form upper andlower bars for the said Corner posts 6 are mounted between ends of thebars 4 and '5 and at the opposite side of the frame are posts I and 8,the posts I being welded, or otherwise secured, at their ends to thebent portions 4' and 5 of the bars 4 and 5 and the post 8 midway thelength of the frame. A wide strip or bar 9 extendslongitudinally of theframe with its ends weldedto end portions of the bar 5 in spacedrelation to Between upper end portions of the posts 6 is mounted aresilient strip or bar it which has its ends welded to these posts. JawsH are mounted against the inner side face of the yieldable bar or strip10 and are formed from strips of stiif metal having their end portionsl2 bent to project from the bar in position to extend circumferentiallyof cylindrical drums or containers I3 which hold compressed g-as and areplaced within the frame or basket at opposite sides of a bolt or drawrod 14 with their lower ends resting upon the supporting bar or strip 9.

The frame may be secured upon the converging end portions of the chassisbars 2 by U-bolts 15 which straddle the bar 9 and have their armsextending downwardly at opposite sides of the chassis bars and carryingclamping strips f6 held in binding engagement with the under faces ofthe chassis bars. when the nuts I! are tightened or by bolts is whichare passed-downwardly through openings l9 formed in the supporting bar 9with their heads countersunk in the reamed out upper portions of'theopenings. The bolts II; are disposed at opposite sides of the chassisbars and when the clamping strips '20 are applied to lower ends of thebolts and the nuts 21 applied and tightened the frame will be firmlyheld in place upon the chassis bars.

The draw rod or bolt M may be mounted" as shown in Figures 1 through 4or as shown "in Figure 6. In'the first mentioned figures the draw rod iswelded, or otherwise firmly secured to the upper end portion of the post8 with its threaded end portion passing through an opening formed in theresilient bar If) and when its nut 14' is tightened the bar Ill will beflexed inwardly of the frame and the jaws ll brought into grippingengagement with gas containers set within the frame and resting upon thesupporting bar 9. With the draw rod so mounted the frame is set upon thechassis bars with its side wall formed by the bars 4 and 5 presentedtowards the trailer body and the nut l4 will thus be at the front of theframe where it may be readil engaged with a wrench and tightened.Instead of welding the rod or bolt to the part 8 it may be passedthrough an opening formed near the upper end of the post with its headengaging the outer side of the post and its threaded end then passedthrough the opening in the bar It. In the embodiment of the inventionshown in Figure 6 the draw rod or bolt is passed through the openingformed in the bar 19 with its head engaging the outer side face of thisbar and its threaded end then passed through the upper end portion ofthe post 8 and the nut [4 applied and tightened so that the head of thebolt will flex the bar it inwardly and hold the jaws i! in grippingengagement with the gas containers. The frame may thus have its flatside presented towards the trailer body.

It will be understood that variations may be made in the construction ofthe frame or basket such as forming the same of stiff sheet metal, asshown in Figure 8. In this embodiment of the invention the side wall 22and the end walls 23 are formed from a sheet of metal bent in spacedrelation to its ends to form the walls. Strips of sheet metal 24 and'25, corresponding to the strips 9 and II] have their ends secured toedge portions of the walls 23. The strip or bar 24 is secured upon thechassis bars of the trailer and when the bolt 26 is tightened the jaws21 will be moved into gripping engagement with gas containers set withinthe frame and resting upon the supporting bar 24. If so desired thesupport 24 may be of such dimensions that it forms a solid bottom forthe frame in which case it will be formed with openings to accommodatesecuring bolts by which it is fastened to the chassis bars.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A carrier for mounting containers of cocking gas upon a trailercoachcomprising a frame open at its top and along one side and adapted to bemounted upon chassis bars adjacent one end of the body of atrailercoach, a yieldable bar extending longitudinally of the open sideof the frame and rigidly secured at its ends to the ends of the frame,jaws carried by said bar in spaced relation to each other longitudinallyof the bar and projecting therefrom inwardly of the frame, and means forflexing the bar inwardly of the frame and disposing the jaws in grippingengagement with gas containers placed in the frame through the open topthereof.

2. A carrier for tanks of cooking gas comprising a frame adapted to beremovably mounted upon chassis bars of a trailercoach in advance of thetrailercoach body, said frame being open at itstop for insertion andremoval of containers, a resilient bar extending along one side of theframe and firmly secured at its ends to ends of the bar, jaws carried bysaid bar, and a bolt extending transversely of the frame with one endsecured to a side of the frame opposite the resilient bar 4 and itsother end passing through the resilient bar between the jaws and havinga nut screwed upon its outer end, said bolt when tightened serving toflex the bar inwardly and thereby hold the jaws in gripping engagementwith sides of containers in the frame.

3. A carrier for gas containers comprising a frame open at its top andalong one side, said frame having upper and lower bars extending along aside opposite the open side of the frame and bent to provide endportions extending across ends of the frame, posts extending verticallyand secured at their ends to the upper and lower bars and together withthe upper and lower bars forming a side wall and end walls for theframe, one post being located midway the length of the side wall andothers at opposite ends of the open side, a supporting bar extendinglongitudinally of the frame with its ends secured to end portions of thelower bar, a resilient bar extending longitudinally of the open side ofthe frame and secured to upper ends of corner posts at ends of the saidopen side, means for securing the supporting bar upon chassis bars of atrailercoach and mounting the frame transversely thereof in advance ofan end of the body of the trailercoach, jaws carried by the resilientbar in spaced relation to each other 1ongitudinally thereof andprojecting from the inner side face thereof inwardly of the frame, and apressure applying member extending transversely of the frame with oneend secured to the upper end portion of the post located midway thelength of the frame and its other end portion adjustably engaged withthe resilient bar between the jaws for flexing the said resilient barinwardly of the frame and firmly holding the jaws in gripping engagementwith gas containers deposited in the frame and resting upon thesupporting bar.

4. A carrier for gas containers comprising a frame having a side walland end walls formed of upper and lower bars and vertical posts securedat their upper and lower ends to the upper and lower bars, a support atthe bottom of the frame secured to portions of the lower bar and adaptedto be secured upon chassis bars of a trailercoach and mount the frameoutwardly of one end of the body of the trailercoach, a resilient memberextending along a side of the frame opposite said side wall and securedat its ends to upper ends of corner posts, and means carried by theupper bar of the side wall and adjustably connected with said resilientmember for flexing the resilient member inwardly and holdingthe same ingripping engagement with containers placed in the frame and resting uponthe support.

WORTH C. GATEWOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 807,138 Story Dec. 12, 19051,223,258 Cooper Apr. 17, 1917 1,723,658 Quade Aug. 6, 1929 2,287,919Ulzheimer June 30, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25,058 GreatBritain Nov. 1, 1912 198,267 Great Britain May 31, 1923 296,840 GreatBritain Sept. 13, 1928

